AFAIK, no, you may not legally bring any handgun into NJ.
It's the "As Far As I Know" in the above that's the problem here... and the information is wrong.
You can import anything you like into NJ and keep it there, as long as it's not prima facia contraband. If you move in, you can keep it there forever and there's no mandatory registration. Stay a week... it's OK as long as it's not being transported while you're there.
NJ doesn't have a 10 round mag limit, they have a 15 round mag limit.
The FOPA allows transport
from one place where posession is legal
thru any state
to where posession is also legal.
Breaking this down:
1: Transport INTO NJ is not illegal...
2: Transport OUT of NJ is not illegal...
3: Tansport WITHIN NJ
once it's already there is fraught with peril.
Why? Unlike other states that recite a a number ofreasons why transport of a handgunis illegal, with the balance of the reasons being OK, NJ uniquely presumes tha ALL transport of handguns is illegal and then recites in the statutes a VERY limited number of exceptions to the rule. YOU need to KNOW what those rules are and to be able to VERY carefully articulate those reasons. To be clear:
Transportion of a handgun OUTSIDE THE HOME in NJ requires an affirmitive defense that it's being transported for one of a fairly small number of reasons.
In the VERY unlikely event that you get to NJ safely, decide to then re-transport it someplace else, completely
screw up and not only
attract the attention of a LEO AND also either
give them probable cause for a search or (stupidly)
waive your 4th amendment rights and they find a handgun in your car, then you at least better have the right answers for WHY you are transporting it. For example, to pick an arcane example, you can be transporting it to a FFL
to have it repaired, but you cannot legally be transporting it to a FFL
to be sold. Go figure... so take it to a FFL for repair and then change your mind later.
The bottom line is to:
1: Be prudent.
2: Don't transport for reasons that are not listed in the NJ statutes
3: Know the right answers.
Hint: A pair of small bedside-type security safes bolted down in the trunk of your car is a pretty good plan to A: secure your property, B: comply with the FOPA, and C: to ensure that your 4th amendment rights are not trampled upon. One for handgun, one for ammo.
Reason for two safes? You cannot transport both ammo and firearm in the same box in NJ. Even if you lock your handgun in a safe, If a LEO finds ammunition (such as in a warrantless search, the validity of which you can argue about later in court), they then would have
probable cause to break open a safe found in the same car. The small bedside safe boxes are cheap, and a pair of them thru-bolted into the trunk of your car offers very real protections. Total cost? About $100. Well worth it. Failing that, a pair of locked rigid briefcases in the trunk, with a small chain run thru their handles and then thru a bracket in the trunk. You're not making it theft-proof, simply "defensible under 4th amendment opinion rules" from being able to be investigated in the VERY improbable case that you roll your car, it's damaged, the trunk pops open, and your "stuff" is discovered.
Real world advice? Do yourself a favor and don't be found sleeping in your car at a roadside rest in NJ, don't do anything really stupid toattract attention to yourself, and never give up your 4th amendment rights. Carry it into NJ locked seperately from the ammunition, Transfer it to your nice rigid LOCKED briefcase when you get to the house in NJ, toss it into the corner, and forget about it. Nobody needs to know it's there but you, and you're well within the law in every respect.
The above is advice given from the perspective of someone who resided in NJ for decades and who was involved in shooting sports there for decades, who now travels several times a year from his full time domicile in Wisconsin back to his old home in NJ which is just an occasional use beach house now. I have a WI CCW, and carry all the way from WI to the last rest stop in PA. There I stop, unload, lock & secure, and drive to the beach place.
I've paid for legal opinion on this, and pass it to you for free for your consideration. I paid for the advice. You, on the other hand, have gotten it for free and it should be worth to you exactly what you've paid for it: Nothing, unless you read the statutes yourself and understand them. If you accept legal advice from strangers on the internet, without independant verification, then shame on you...
Willie
.
